PVP

Today I read two blog posts about the recent situation between CFC and HBC. These are the two blocs controlling EVE’s null sec and relations seem to have deteriorated but no true war is forthcoming.

One blog author, Marc Saurus, attributes this to the sovereignty mechanics, quoting the sources as saying that they are not willing to go through the lengthy grind of the mechanic in order to win sov (again).

“A war that would’ve involved 20,000 players, 75% of nullsec space, and hundreds of supercapitals was halted not by diplomacy, but by a game mechanic so dreadful that those who have experienced it previously have no desire to do so again.” [Marc Saurus]

The second blog author, Poetic Stanziel, attributes this lack of will to warring to the fact that it will be economically damaging to the big boy, so in the face of such costs the will to war dwindles.

Being in EVE since 2009 – I am now unsubscribed (since a couple of weeks) but follow it attentively out of game – I tend to agree with Poetic Stanziel more. Before unsubscribing I was in wormholes. I liked them because they resembled null sec, the place I loved most in EVE. The place I couldn’t live in due to the way the “leaders” there expect others to play – a requirement which ultimately results in the leaders’ benefit, not the players. It is always for their benefit, the few who assure for themselves a massive passive income by dictating the gameplay of others. In the years since I left I had been experiencing a “I can’t live with you – I can’t live without you” situation which ultimately lead to not renewing my subscribtion.

Marc Saurus is also right although he misdiagnosed the situation and put the blame on the game mechanic and CCP. Sov warfare is an endless grind because the players, the same few who do not want this war and dictate the gameplay of others, made it such by hoarding so much space under one cap. This in itself is the problem: the sheer quantity of systems that need to be attacked; and not the mechanic. The mechanic is great when holding or wanting a handful (or a few more) of systems. In the mechanic systems are owned by Corporations, not alliances. This was meant to create a dynamic environment in which corps leaving/joining alliances would change the sov scenario and make it highly dynamic. This mechanic allowed for attacking key corporations, breaking them, thus breaking the alliance. The leaders do not like this – they want the ultimate control, to the point that even with a few corps they can still hold on to the space until the next bill comes along. These alliance leaders created the system in which solar systems are held by the alliance’s infrastructure corp, thus avoiding this dynamism and in the process creating the bloc spanning multiple regions. Corps joining or leaving the alliance do not have an effect on the alliance’s holdings. THIS is the problem.

The tendency (or drive by the few in safeguarding their interests) for the focus to be on alliances rather than corps. THIS is the problem.

“The only reason why this war will not happen is because of technetium. The Mittani can try to spin it any way he wants. As crappy as the sovereignty mechanics in EVE Online may be, it certainly did not stop The Mittani from prosecuting several wars to capture more of New Eden’s technetium supply. And at least one war to protect the tech cartel he helped create.” [Poetic Stanziel]

Technetium inevitably pops up whenever null politics is discussed. The location of this (and other valuable) mineral is unknown to the common folk – those who would eagerly harass the establishment through guerrilla tactics. Its location is a heavily guarded secret and whoever has this information will not divulge it readily. This is also part of the information that keeps the large null sec alliance beyond the reach of the smaller ones.

I believe in the old adage that information is power (or a good part of it). I think that if the location of moon minerals is known with precision, initiatives for targeted attacks will arise and a serious challenge to the establishment can be created. The biggest threat will be from those whose only aim will be to watch the world burn, and for these guys I’ll be acting!

The Moon Survey Project

I will return to the game and start a survey of the moons in the North of New Eden and publish here, for public knowledge, my findings. You can help too, by doing the same and posting your own findings. Most importantly I urge you to use my findings and get a fleet to disable these POSes, or go do some other damage and harassment.

THEY deserve nothing better. Because null sec is ours, not theirs. It is mine too!

As a player who has been around the EVE Universe for many months, I have what are called Jump Clones. These are clones of your body that you leave at convenient stations anywhere in New Eden. When needed you can leave your current body in another station and jump to another body somewhere else. It’s like your soul leaving one body and going in another body, in an instant. You are limited to one jump per 24 hours.

Having been in DION for some months, I had 2 jump clones near their base of operations. On Saturday I jumped to one of them because I wanted to sort out some assets. If there is one thing I hate a lot is a long assets list; so I try to gather everything in few convenient places as much as possible.

So I jumped to my jump clone in 2P-. DION are based in A-S, one jump away towards Cloud Ring. So I made my way to A-S in a velator. As expected their scout was stationed in 2P- cloaked, watching just in case any nice catch was flowing by. Most probably there was “Handown, Velator, 2P” in the intel channel at the moment I undocked.

I was not expecting very warm welcomes, or anything for that matter; a simple “hello; hi; hallo; o/” would have been enough. After all I did not leave as an enemy. It is also true, I was now neutral to them, but still, the name should mean something!

Anyways, I docked up in A-S had a look around, then got the stealth bomber ready for undocking. As soon as I did I found the CEO and one of his hound dogs waiting for me by the station. As soon as I broke the session timer, insta lock and pointed; so naturally my reaction, dock again. I know these guys can wait for many minutes for any kill, and that night I did not want to engage my old mates – because friendship and relationships to me mean something! So me being way past those beginner’s days when I want to do something at all costs, and knowing that those guys would wait me out, I just left the client running all night, docked up in station. I think they had a very enjoyable night. Still nothing in local.

Then in the morning I checked back. There was my old friend, to whom I said “hi”. The guy seemed cautious and he offered me free passage out of A-S. I said that I don’t need his acknowledgement or permission to fly wherever I want and whenever I want to, also in relative safety. Still I reiterated my “hi” and this time he said it back. We exchanged “fly safes” and that was it, I was on my way.

What really makes me wonder are the following questions that this incident brought up in my mind:

1. Is this all for the players I am sharing this game with? All that matters is the killmail, no matter who’s on it?

2. Do they really think that I do not know how to fly? A-S was my home for many months, don’t they think I know the place? Is this what they think of their members?

On my way out I met a couple of goons in another system. As soon as I jumped in I got:

[16:30:11] Razzor Death > handown

[16:30:14] Razzor Death > pod me on station

Do I look like I’m one to go looking for kills just for the lolz?? Just because YOU do that, doesn’t mean I do it too!

Welcome to the twenty-fifth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month’s topic comes to us from @Tetraetc – “Tetra’s EVE Blog” – who asks: “Have Alliances and the sovereignty system limited the amount of PVP and RP potential in Null sec? Imagine a Null Sec where anyone could build outposts wherever. Would the reduction of the alliance game mechanic, and the removal of the sovereignty game mechanics (or the modifcation of it from Alliance level to Corp level for that matter) force more PVP into Null sec, or would giant power blocs like the NC still form themselves?”

I have been thinking hard on this post. One reason is because this is my first post that will participate in CK’s blog banter; the second reason is because this topic has been on my mind for a very long time.

I should start by writing the following sentence: nobody likes losing! Especially in a game like EVE Online where losing a ship does not only mean respawning at a starting point but will set you back many thousands, millions, or billions (depending on the case) of isk. For this reason, and especially in null sec where the stakes are very high, players team together and fly together. I remember that in my younger days in Esoteria we used to be told to never fly alone, otherwise you die.

Alliances, pvp, rp; they are all game mechanics, and as long as a game mechanic is available it will be used. I do not think that alliances limit in any way the pvp element. From my experience I agree that the pvp element is “not right” and that it needs improvement, but it is not the fault of the game mechanic. The cause is the players’ attitude to losses. In more than 2 years of daily online time, I have very rarely met solo pilots looking for pvp, and the ones I’ve met and popped were noobs. On other occasions I ended up the victim of a gang (many players flying together) and this fact, i.e. not standing a chance as opposed to losing, pushes me to avoid pvp where possible.

Wait a minute …

I like what I have just wrote: “not standing a chance to win, rather than losing, pushes me to avoid pvp where possible”! I like it. Come to think of it, this is true. This is the source of my frustration at the game. I do not think I am in a position to extrapolate this claim to the general population of New Eden, yet it could be true. This could be the cause which if addressed properly increase pvp in New Eden.

I hope you liked my first post. It has been written down as it came to my fingers and I liked the experience. Hope to do others soon. In the meantime you can check out other contributions to this edition of the blog banter.